Live in the Now

“Blow wind of God and set us free from hate and want of charity; strip off the trappings of our pride, and give us to our brother's side.” --William Charles Braithwaite

Whenever I spend time with my ten year old girl group I constantly have to remind one of them to “live in the now”. She is always wanting to worry about what are we doing after this or when are we going to meet again, and when we do, what will we do.

I always have to tell her not to waste our current time together worrying about our future time together. That is in the future, lets enjoy and live it up in the NOW! The last time we went on a hay ride another one of the girls brought up going home and she got so upset. I tried to rationalize with her that obviously we were going to have leave sometime. We couldn't ride around behind a tractor all day long sitting on prickly hay bails, eventually she would have to go home to her family.

Ten year olds don't exactly have the best logic skills hammered out yet. I believe there was some arm crossing and pouty faces pulled after my attempts to explain the inevitable.

In an effort to cheer her up I decided to bring up one of her favorite topics of -- what will we do next time we get together. One of the girls suggested having a sleep over and her older sister whom I had invited to join our group for the first time, said, “Yeah that sounds like fun.”

Wow, it was like a scene from the exorcist as her little sister's head swiveled so fast I thought she might have whiplash. The change in her demeanor was that dramatic. She instantly spit out that there was no room for her to join our group and that she absolutely could not play with us again. For emphasis she pointed to each one of us and said, “Only us four are in this group, not you, you are not in our group.”

Ooops, my bad at trying to make room for one more. I had never heard her talk so fast or so vehemently. I was definitely seeing some new sides to my sweet little girls. Interestingly I had once been talking to her foster mom while she was standing there and I said, “Yeah we need to come up with a name for our group, because I never know what to call us.” Her mom suggested “the three musketeers.” And she instantly said, “No, mom that won't work because there are FOUR of us not three, duh.”

I am not going to lie, it made me inwardly smile that to her little four foot self ,I was an equal. We were all the same height in our group. I wasn't some big looming “adult.” I was one of them.

So back to the hay ride...now three out of the five people are mad as we bounce alongside the corn field. Awesome. Thankfully the only little girl not mad stepped up and gave a lecture along the lines of: “Look we are here together now, lets make the most of today and have fun. I want to have fun, don't you, so come on lets have fun.” Well put, well said and all the better that it wasn't coming from me. We did just that and had a good time the rest of the day.

I grew up reading a story about two little mice and one mouse worked all summer long storing up food and provisions for the coming winter. The other little mouse ran around and played all day and did nothing to prepare for the seasons changing. When winter came the one mouse that had spent all summer working was safe, snug and well fed in his warm house. Sadly, the other mouse because he didn't prepare for winter was starving out in the cold.

So the spin I like to put on this story goes a little different. When all the trees are losing their leaves and the winter wind starts to blow both of the mice happen to cross the street at the same time and they both get hit by a bus. Poor mice. Which mouse had a happier last year of life, the one that worked all day constantly preparing for the future or the one that danced away all his days playing in the sunshine?

Would I rather be here at work bored to death at my desk or outside smelling the fresh air? Pretty easy answer. Obviously, though, I can't scamper out of here and go bask in the sunny rays outside, I don't get paid for that. We have to think about the future because if we don't get hit by a bus then we don't want to be freezing our tails off, hungry and unhappy come winter.

“Life has burdens that no one can escape. Christianity does not remove the load: it teaches us how best to bear the burdens that fall rightly to us.” --Anonymous

So where is the happy medium. I would suggest don't forget to “Live in the NOW.” Worrying about the future and current economy actually isn't going to make it any better. Mental preparation does not include constantly whining, worrying and obsessing. I don't think that would be storing up for winter. Praying, trusting in God, looking in His word for comfort, no discretionary spending and making informed decisions on your current finances and investments might be the better way to go.

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes...12:25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life...12:30 For the pagan world runs after all such things and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom and these things will be given to you as well.” ~Luke 12:22-30 (abbreviated)

Stressing about the bus or hoping it comes sooner has no bearing on whether or not you get hit by it. It is inevitable. Perhaps if the mice had combined efforts and played and worked together they would have had more fun and gotten more done. Instead of criticizing, judging, and thinking they were superior, they should have explained and helped one another see each other's view points. I think they both were lacking essentials in their life. “All work and no play make Jack a dull boy... or something like that.”

If anything the hard working one should have at least smiled in the sun as he was gathering his food for later. He should have lived in the now and attempted to enjoy his work while preparing for the future. As usual and as always I am talking to myself. I need to buck up and smile a whole heck of a lot more here at my workplace. Pouting about finances doesn't pay the bills, but man if it did.... Living in oblivion, ignorance is bliss and yada, yada are no help either, sad to say. Ignoring your bills by piling them on your desk doesn't get them paid by the tooth fairy. Living in the Now also involves accepting and doing something positive in your current situation no matter what it may be.

“My God, give me neither poverty nor riches, but whatsoever it may be thy will to give, give me, with it, a heart that knows humbly to acquiesce in what is thy will.” --J.E.L. Gotthold

Lord, let our hearts not worry or yearn for the future but let us instead look forward to only more of Your goodness. Please help us to put our trust in You, while valiantly working with joy in all that you give us to do, this day and the next. Help us live our lives to the fullest everyday and avoid the bus a little while longer.

Heaven helped me 11/22/08
A*

(*I honestly have no earthly idea if I heard this phrase, “Live in the Now” somewhere else so I apologize if it originates elsewhere.)